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any covering worn as a defense against weapons.
a suit of armor.
a metallic sheathing or protective covering, especially metal plates, used on warships, vehicles, airplanes, and fortifications.
mechanized units of military forces, as divisions.
also called armament. any protective covering, as on certain animals, insects, or plants.
any quality, characteristic, situation, or thing that serves as protection:
a chilling courtesy was his only armor.
the outer, protective wrapping of metal, usually fine, braided steel wires, on a cable.
to cover or equip with armor or .
contemporary examples

french troops in armoured personnel carriers rolled through the streets of kidal in northern mali on wednesday.
no quick fix for mali: french troops can’t end crisis william lloyd george january 29, 2013

the armoured plates on the undamaged places on bombers, cut down losses by something like 30 per cent.
peter worthington on thinking outside the box david frum may 16, 2013

historical examples

in the straggling line battleships and cruisers, armoured and unarmoured, were mingled together.
famous sea fights john richard hale

cruisers are divided into two cl-sses: armoured and unarmoured.
how britannia came to rule the waves w.h.g. kingston

even better than these last does the calosoma know the weak point of the armoured beetles, concealed beneath the wing-cases.
the glow-worm and other beetles jean henri fabre

she gave to the cheese-box, or to the armoured turret, one after the other, three broadsides.
the long roll mary johnston

it had been one of the tenets of war that armoured ships were more than a match for sh-r- batteries.
billy barcroft, r.n.a.s. percy f. westerman

the scharnhorst and the gneisenau were armoured cruisers of 11,600 tons.
world’s war events, vol. i various

the existing fleet consists of one battleship, two armoured cruisers, and four protected cruisers.
problems of the pacific frank fox

the glasgow was not armoured, and could not contend with armoured vessels.
world’s war events, vol. i various

adjective
having a protective covering, such as armour or bone
comprising units making use of armoured vehicles: an armoured brigade
(of gl-ss) toughened
noun
the us spelling of armour
n.

c.1300, “mail, defensive covering worn in combat,” also “means of protection,” from old french armeure “weapons, armor” (12c.), from latin armatura “arms, equipment,” from arma “arms, gear” (see arm (n.2)). figurative use from mid-14c.

meaning “military equipment generally,” especially siege engines, is late 14c. the word might have died with jousting if not for late 19c. transference to metal-shielded machinery beginning with u.s. civil war ironclads (first attested in this sense in an 1855 report from the u.s. congressional committee on naval affairs).
v.

mid-15c., from armor (n.). related: armored; armoring.
see:

ch-nk in one’s armor
knight in shining armor